The Tribune

THR Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers will be the next stop on the NCAA basketball journey for Shavaul Butters.

Butters, who played sparingly last season at the Division I level for Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros, will join the Rangers and head coach Robbie Harman.

The Rangers compete in the Great American Conference of NCAA Division II. They finished 20-9 last season and concluded their season with a loss in the opening round of the Great American Conference playoffs.

The 6’8”, 210-pound freshman forward was the first commit of the first class for Vaqueros head coach Matt Figger last offseason but injuries derailed the start of his collegiate career.

Butters recovered from tibial stress fractures and finished with five rebounds in his collegiate debut. He averaged just 0.5 points and 1.2 rebounds per game in six appearances.

Listed as a two-star recruit by Verbal Commits, Butters completed his high school career at Elevation Prep in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The Grand Bahama native spent the previous season with Aspire Academy in Louisville, Kentucky.

Butters began to garner attention from major Division I basketball programmes and received his first offer of what is expected to be an active recruiting process last summer.

He was officially offered by the Austin Peay State University Governors. Butters also received high interest from UNLV, Maryland, Eastern Kentucky, North Carolina- Greensboro, and several others.

At the local level, Butters was a member of the St George’s Jaguars programme, headed by Darell Sears.

“He was just excited to get back on the floor. He’s still got to learn, because he was out for a long time but he was just excited to play again,” Sears said after Butters returned from inury. “He has an extra year of eligibility and is still a redshirt so we look forward to his growth and development with the programme.”